The present invention relates to clinical analysis kits and, more particularly, to a modular clinical analysis system having a base unit and an analysis unit.
The medical condition of a patient is often reflected by body chemistry. Accordingly, diagnostic medicine has developed a variety of analytical techniques to measure the presence and concentration of numerous test substances which serve as indicators of disease states or abnormalities. The great complexity of living organisms and the number and variety of substances for which detection and quantitative measurement may be helpful in identifying or excluding possible disease states or medical conditions has made it generally necessary to carry out a number of different tests. Additionally, many environmental systems may be chemically analyzed for the presence and concentration of desirable and undesirable elements.
Often analysis of patients and environmental systems is conducted in the field away from complex laboratory facilities. It is desirable to have a diagnostic device capable of being easily moved into the field for analysis. Portable diagnostic devices are known. However, these devices are often limited in their capability to transmit and retain test results. Often these devices are only usable one time before being discarded, which adds significant expense. Often these devices are incapable of processing as many different types of analytes as desired.
Alternatively, samples may be transported back to a central laboratory where the sample is processed and the results reported back to the test requester. This process is costly, time consuming, and can introduce contamination to the sample. Additionally, some samples are hard to transport.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved diagnostic device capable of being moved into the field for analysis.